Ankle Supports For Volleyball
Are Your Volleyball Ankle Supports Providing Adequate Protection?
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| Old School | Today's style |
Volleyball players involved in indoor and beach style volleyball are routinely at risk for sustaining ankle injuries. Today's high school and college volleyball players routinely play with volleyball ankle supports to protect against rollover injuries. When it comes to selecting quality ankle supports for volleyball, knowing all the facts from today's most recent research can help assist with making the right choice with many different styles to choose from today.
Types of Ankle Supports For Volleyball:
The majority of today's volleyball ankle braces come in two main varieties: hinged stirrup designs and lace-up models.
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Hinged stirrup models features a semi-rigid stirrup or cuff design that braces the sides of the ankle to resist rotation movements and reduce the chance of inversion occuring at the ankle joint. Inversion is the rollover motion that is most commonly seen in when it comes to viewing actual ankle sprains occuring. They feature soft liners on the iside to mold to the contours of your ankle and are typical made of foam or feature air chambers for enhanced comfort. |
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Lace-up models feature a lacing system along the front that allows the user to get a more custom sock-like fit which players often find more comfortable to wear. They imitate the key "ankle lock" concept of an athletic tape job by using figure 8 straps and stirrup straps to protect your ankle in a neutral position. For high school players without a history of ankle sprains, studies show that wearing prophylactic volleyball ankle supports can signicantly reduce the chance of sustaining an ankle injury, but not as much if you've already sprained your ankles previously. 1 What about using athletic taping to prevent injuries from occuring? While taping has been shown to be effective, it's also three times more expensive when measured by the number of athletes needing to be treated to produce a cost benefit.2 |
Negatives To Using Volleyball Ankle Supports:
These products provide lateral ankle protection restricting excessive plantar flexion and inversion. We're often asked whether volleyball ankle supports actually weaken your ankles. The answer is a resounding NO. Most of today's supports are both comfortable to wear while restricting rotation and twisting movements associated with ankle sprains. While studies and clinical evidence shows the benefits of proprioception and rehabilitation following an ankle sprain, there are no such studies today to indicate that ankle supports for volleyball actually weaken your ankles.
DME-Direct carries the web's largest selection of volleyball ankle supports for players of all ages and skill levels. For more information on these products, please see our section of top rated volleyball ankle braces.
1Foot Ankle Int, 2010 Apr;31(4):296-300.
2J Athl Train, 2004 Jan-Mar; 39(1): 95–100.